Globalization & me
so, I'm sitting in my breakroom, listening to my coworkers lament the latest round of promotions as we watch highly paid consultants play ping-pong. Or no-promotions in this case. Along with no-raises. And the whole time they're talking about "The Man" sticking it to them, I'm thinking: "actually, it's probably not the man. The price of pig futures probably rose in Thailand, and that's why we didn't get raises...".
This is your brain on Globalization.
If you haven't noticed, the game has changed, y'all. And this book outlines exactly how it has changed, and continues to change. And. It. Will. Continue. To. Change.
I could give you a standard synopsis - but hell, that's what Google is for. And for those of you that don't have the time to even Google, Thomas L. Friedman himself has a website with a synopsis.
So, instead: why should you care? Because your boss cares. Your CEO cares. The board of directors of your company cares, and your Senator, Congressman, Governor and President care. Because rising pig futures in Thailand means that Indians have to pay more for pork, means that they have to figure out how to make more money, and they decide to write Java code (or study accounting, or get into Marketing/Customer relatons management) and your company decides they'd like to just try outsourcing and see if it works for them. Just. This. Once. Then, suddenly - projects dry up, and your company's getting stingy with raises. Or laying off. Etc. Etc.
Sound remotely familiar? Ok bad analogy, but you get the idea. The game has changed, it will never be the same, so it's time to learn the new rules. Rule#1: Capitalism rules everything around me, CREAM - open your markets (dollar, dollar bill y'all.) Lame hip-hop reference, but valid. It means that the more the world (that is, the group of individual countries and companies in the world) aligns itself with market-based capitalism, the more the world truly turns into a global marketplace, the more most companies have to compete on a global scale, the leaner, more profitable, more efficient and cost effective these individual countries and companies have to be.
For you, it means that you can succumb to the whims of the "Electronic Herd", and continue to plod along, uninformed and complain about your Employer's BS reasons for changing policies and sticking it to the little guy - you. Or, you can (as a fellow MBA student so succinctly put it) accept that - globalization happens; downsizing happens; reorganization happens - and plan accordingly. That's what my MBA game is all about - becoming that highly paid consultant that's a leaner, meaner, more profitable employee for accepting just that. Offering my employer a more enticing Cost-Benefit ratio. Or getting the hell on. And I'll get to play ping-pong either way.
Now, I'm brand new to the game. But when I hear rumors now about the restructuring of my compensation package, layoffs or a divisional reorganization, I think: I see the Herd, people. If you still think I'm trippin' - Read on...and let me know what YOU think.